Forever Free

"... ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God ..."



I never understood that phrase from 1 Corinthians 6:20 until my Mom talked to me a few days in a row about it. I was complaining (almost crying) about how awful our country is getting to be - how we are becoming worse than communist countries who bar their citizens in with walls like a prison. I won't name all the evil, disgusting things that are being done these days... there are too many! Anyway it took about 2 or 3 days for me to cool down and finally listen and thankfully grasp what my Mama was trying to tell me. I realized that I have been so fed up, so hatefully angry and so set on rebelling against the injustices and wrongs that are being done to true Americans (patriots, freedom-seekers, etc.) that I have even began rebelling against God. I have asked forgiveness from Him and He forgave me, just like He promises to always do in His word, if a heart is truly contrite. Let me share with you what I learned.



If I am bought with a price - bought with the blood of Jesus - then I am Jesus'. I don't mind not being my own. I have eternal life! And if I am Jesus', I have everything I need - 'cause He's all I need! But there is something I couldn't seem to filter through my thick skull - if I am Christ's, and I am bought with a price, and He has promised to take care of me, why is He letting me live in this day and age when the most triumphant country in all of history loses its blessed freedom? Well, "you are bought with a price!" That's why!!! That wasn't a good enough answer for me. I kept on getting bitter, and then one day I found a couple verses.





"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32



Yes! A little relief flooded over me. I am Christ's, and I don't have to obey anybody on this earth but Him. If they take away the freedom I have, it's not really taken away, because God opens doors no one can shut, and He shuts doors that no one can open. If he takes something away from me, no one else but he will be able to restore it unto me. He gave me a gift that no one can take away - salvation - freedom from sin and laws that are sinful - in fact, freedom from all the laws, because now I have the power over sin. He is my King, and I ought to obey Him rather than any man. The freedom that we have in Christ Jesus is true FREEDOM!!! I will never be in bondage, because if I am, God allowed me to be put there, not some person I don't even know. No one but God controls what happens to me. Ü There's more, though...



"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36



That goes along with what I was saying... when I excepted Jesus into my heart, I was freed from all sin, from all guilt. I should just repeat what I said in the paragraph above (maybe in a different sense?). If I am free from all sin, I am free from all sinful reign. I follow, obey, serve and honour no man - only God. I am not of this world. My kingdom is not earthly - it is eternal. Immortal. I'm just a pilgrim passin' through. And even though we of America are no longer free-free-free, I find comfort in knowing that God allowed that. I am his and he can do what he wants with me, for I am bought with a price. My freedom and my rights are still the same in Christ Jesus! I may die defending those rights, but what would you expect if a spirited, free person from a foreign land (me) lived in a familiar, though rather hostile and tyrannical country (the world) and still declared my birth-right freedom? Uh, wouldn't go so well with the authorities. So I am commanded to obey the laws of the land - except if they are contrary to God's Word. That is a dellllliciously victorious feeling!!!!! A wonderful freedom! I can actually rebel against the laws that confront God's laws (in the understanding that it is to be done respectfully)! The best part is, if you're a sinner saved by the grace of Jesus and his blood, you're forever free! Not just temporarily, or only free if you're good. Those things never saved your soul... only Jesus - the King of Kings! And it is still his power and grace that enables us Christians to remain free. Free from the law and free from sin! But better yet - under his rule and no man's!!!!